Department of Women’s Studies

womens_studies_class
Women’s Studies Class, 1983

The Department of Women’s Studies at Old Dominion University (ODU) teaches students about the social, global, and historical issues that shape the lives of  men and women in a variety of ways.

History

By the mid-1970s, there was a growing shift on campus to help improve the lives of women at Old Dominion. The Women’s Caucus was established in 1974 and the Women’s Center was created in 1976. The department began as a pilot program with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1977. As a result, Old Dominion became the first state-run institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia to create a women’s studies program. The first coordinator for the program was Carolyn Rhodes, a professor in the Department of English, from 1977-1978. Nancy Topping Bazin became the first full-time director of the program in the fall of 1978 and served until 1985. In 1986, to help support the program, the Friends of Women’s Studies organization was founded. In 1995, Women’s Studies became a major within the College of Arts and Letters, making Old Dominion the first state-supported school in Virginia to have a major in women’s studies. At the December 1996 Commencement, Heather Gilstrap is the first person to receive a bachelor of arts degree in women’s studies from a state-supported institution in Virginia. In the fall of 2002, the program transitioned into the Department of Women’s Studies.

Directors and Department Chairs

Carolyn Rhodes, 1977-1978 (pilot project coordinator)

Nancy Topping Bazin, 1978-1985

Janet Bing and Janet Katz, 1985-1986 (interim directors)

Ellen Lewin, 1986-1988

Anita Clair Fellman, 1988-2008

Jennifer Fish, 2008-2020

Elizabeth Groeneveld, 2020-

Resources

  1. Women’s Studies Records, RG 17-28A, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
  2. Friends of Women’s Studies Records, RG 17-28A1, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
  3. Old Dominion University Women’s Center Records, RG 7-9A, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
  4. Carolyn Rhodes Papers, RG 17-28B1, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
  5. ODU Women’s Center Collection, Old Dominion University Libraries Digital Collections.
  6. More information about women at Old Dominion University can be found in the online exhibit “Women at ODU: Builders of Communities and Dreams.”

References

  1. Bookman, Steven and Jessica Ritchie. Old Dominion University: A Campus History Series.  Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, South Carolina, 2017.
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